A Stray Bullet
by XxRyoukoXx
Summary: An exorcist arrives at the Dark Order's headquarters from General Tiedoll's recommendation, and she soon finds herself in unfamiliar territory. Although, due to an unfavorable turn of events, any friends she had made there could turn against her.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own D. Gray-Man in any way, shape, or form.

So here's the start of the story! Enjoy!

* * *

A harsh wind blew over a tall, dark tower. This tower was mounted on an unnatural-looking lump of land that jutted into the air from the group bellow. In any sane person's eyes, this menacing sight would be something to avoid. Against all better judgment, there was some questionably sane person standing at the base of this huge mass.

Every never in her body was screaming to get out of that place, to be anywhere but there. Naturally, this girl refused to listen to common sense and go with what she knew she had to do. No matter how hard the wind blew, and no matter how bone-chilling the cold was, she had to get to the top of that thing. She just had to. If she backed down now, so close to breaking down the starting gate, there would have been no point to have traveled all the way there from her home.

No matter. She couldn't dwell on where she had come from. Her mission at the moment was to figure out how to get to the tower.

The lanky girl rolled her shoulders and neck, loosening them up for the hard climb that she anticipated. She was wearing lightweight clothes that would be easy to move around in while climbing, but the winter's cold cut through them easily, leaving her shivering every time a gust of wind surged over her. These thin clothes were actually dark in color. Leather boots clad her feet, while a short and simple black coat went over a small dark blue dress. The only part of her that was ensured not to freeze were her feet and hands, which leather gloves and boots had sheep wool lining.

She seized up the giant obstacle and got to work, grabbing a firm handhold and hauling herself up slowly, as if climbing on a rock wall. The grim difference was that here, is she lost her grip or footing and fell, that would be the end. But as lady luck smiled upon the young climber, her muscled held out, and after an amount of time that she could not seem to keep track of, she was hauling her body over the edge that was adjacent to the large, dark gate.

Once she was fully standing on solid ground, there was a moment of triumphant thoughts before she collapsed to her knees, breathing heavily. She stayed like that for a while, recuperating from the small adventure that she just had. Once she had caught her breath, the girl stood and surveyed the giant stone thing in front of her. It looked like a crudely carved face that had been added to the gate. It confused her as of why someone would add such a sculpture as decoration, so she stared it down, half expecting it to jump to life at any second. Her expectations were abruptly met, as the solid eyes burst open and glared rudely at her before extending from the gate and getting in her face.

"Scanning!!" It proclaimed in a deep, booming voice, Bright lights exploded from its eyes and slowly slid up and down her surprised form. Her eye twitched as the strange process was occurring, but she held still.

"She is not an Akuma!!" It nearly sang, right in her ear too. The violently resounding sound was nearly too much for her, so she quickly pressed her hands over her ears until it had finished,

The giant face soon retracted to it's original position and was deathly silent, no longer blaring overly-loud words in her face.

"Geeze," She muttered as she recovered form the slight shock and fixed her short hair that had been messed up from the blast of sounds, It was cut in spikes that were just inches above her shoulders. The bangs that lay on her forehead fell almost to her dully eyes that seemed purple. The underside of the back of her hair was dyed dark purple and it peeked out from underneath the spikes. After quickly running her fingers through her hair, she turned back to the now-passive gate.

After hesitating a bit, she walked up to the huge thing that had just claimed her to be "not and Akuma." With a curious look on her face, she poked the stone face. No response. She poked it again. Nothing. She scowled and poked it again, this time rewarded by being knocked in the head by a small, black flying object. Gravity proceeded to take hold and cause her to topple over.

"What kind of place is this…?" She moaned and stood back up, brushing the dirt that had just acuminated on her bottom. After grumbling for a minute, she found the thing that had caused her to land promptly on the dirt. It was a black golem, flapping its wings and pointing its small head at her.

She swatted at the thing and frowned. "What do you want?" She had encountered them before. The general that had found her to be a host of an ani-Akuma weapon often had one around, although she found them particularly annoying.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" The voice that came from it was sounding fake-ly harsh, but couldn't be really all that serious. After all, if they had thought they were in any real danger, she would have been dead already. She remembered the general mentioning a name of someone who usually dealt with suspicious people at the gate. Kanda, was it? He probably would have been down there already.

"Ehmm…" She decided to cooperate with the hovering golem. "General Tiedoll said that he sent a recommendation note. Eh," She shifted her gaze around the area as she thought for a moment about what he had mentioned before sending her off to the headquarters for the Dark Order.

"He said that it would have my name…. Santiel Neal. I'm from France, and he sent me here." She waited impatiently for a response. She really needed this. If they didn't let her in, where would she go? She had no home to go back to, and Tiedoll had expected her to become a full-fledged exorcist there.

There were muffled noises and papers crinkling. After a few seconds, a noticeable THWACK could be heard and a new speaker came to the microphone. The voice was young, male, and very sweet with the hint of a British accent.

"Sorry about this, Komui will be down right away. It's 'cause Lenalee's not here that he's so out of it." With that, the words were cut off, and the golem flapped away quietly, leaving Santiel standing, confused.

"Wait… what!?" She asked the silent air. Of course, there was no answer to her suddenly rhetorical question. Totally unsure of what had happened, she sighed and allowed her shoulders to slump forward. Had they gotten the letter? Was this 'Komui' person going to make her leave, or let her in?

Before she had the chance to ask herself or the dark tower any more questions, the gate opened slowly. She turned abruptly to face the creaking mechanism and saw a greatly visible form through the bars. He was wearing a stark white coat and matching hat. His hair was black with hits of purple in it, and his face bore something of a goofy expression. Once setting eyes upon her it was obvious that he didn't expect someone like her to be standing helplessly before the huge building. After staring each other down for a few moments, he ushered her inside, which she gratefully complied with.

With a clang, the gate slammed shut and she followed the man silently into a hall that arched far above her head. Stray finders sneaked peeks at the new arrival before hurrying off about their business. (She knew what they were from meeting some while with the General) After stopping to take it all in, she turned her head ever-so-slightly to address the man that had let her in.

"You're Komui… right?"


	2. Chapter 2

Here's the second installment of A Stray Bullet. Enjoy!

* * *

The cafeteria was a rush of activity during dinnertime. The peculiar-looking man handing out food was sliding a tray to the people standing in line every time he turned around. So many forms were grabbing food and cramming into the seats at the crowded tables. The majority of clothes she could see were the tan-colored jackets of finders. They towered over her, many not even noticing at all the girl that had been deposited in the midst of it all.

She had been on a tour of the place with Komui after telling about her situation. She had been found able to synchronize with Innocence and was sent there to become an exorcist. He had wanted to know every detail about what kinds of things her Innocence could do, after proclaiming himself the director of the Dark Order HQ. She had been skeptical, but agreed to tell him about it after a tour and food. She wanted to know what kind of place she was going to be calling home from then on, and climbing a cliff does tend to make one hungry.

She had walked into the cafeteria, guided by Komui, then directed to the center of the dining hall. When Santiel turned around to ask him why he had pointed her there, the white-clad man had disappeared. Helpless in the crowd, she searched frantically for someone in the dark uniform of an exorcist. But her search was in vain, as all she had found was the sand-colored cloth that seemed to be everywhere. After frowning continuously, she squeezed through a gang of finders and stumbled into an area that was vacant of the large men.

She was standing in a spot of emptiness near the food line. Actually, there was one person in line now, a young boy sporting the familiar uniform of an exorcist. He was receiving food by the pile from the man inside the small kitchen. She couldn't help but gawk at the amount he was being handed. Eyeing him strangely, she slipped into line behind him. His hair was snow white and he looked to be around her age. A kind smiled seemed permanently plastered to his face as he surveyed the large meal.

After a few more second, the boy took up the food piled in front of him and wandered over to the only empty table. She blinked at the retreating back of boy before he was swallowed up by the crowd.

"What would you like?" A voice interjected from next to her. Santiel whiled around and was confronted by a strangely feminine dark-skinned man who seemed to run the kitchen. His face was jocular and open, projecting welcome upon her.

"Uh… could I have some bread and potato soup?" All she could think of was what she had ordered at a restaurant while traveling with Tiedoll. It was something simple, but she had become fond of the taste. The bread was simply a stable food of her diet, being from France. The girl half-expected to be the subject of a strange look from the man, but instead, she merely found a tray with a steaming bowl of potato soup along with a plate of sliced bread slid to her. She smiled up at him and thanked him before picking up her new burden then diving into the mass of people.

"Watch it!" A gruff voice informed her as she weaved through finders until she laid eyes on a white tuft of hair, sitting at a table laden with his meal. She was about to ask him if she could sit there when a large body bumped against her back, causing her to stumble forward and her food to go flying into the air. Fearing the she would spill her soup all over the unfortunate soul, Santiel tried to steady herself by gripping the side of the table. She succeeded in doing so, however the food was still in mid-air.

Accepting the inevitable, she hung her head in shame while listening for a slosh of soup on the boy. The sound never reached her ears. After a heavy silence (at least to her: the rest of the people in the dining hall were as loud as ever) she cracked one eye open to find that what she had feared never actually happened.

The white-haired boy was standing and leaning over the table, balancing the tray in his outstretched hand while still in the position that he had caught it. After a moment, he placed the tray on the table next to him and sat down before casting the spooked girl an expectant look.

"Oh," was all that came out of her mouth at the sight of his extremely fast reflexes. Maybe she was just a klutz, or he was simply very fast. She flushed red and shuffled quickly around the table to take a seat next to him. "Sorry!" she blurted out. The expression on his face just made her become compelled that she had to apologize. The momentary blush that had invaded her face subsided just as he began to speak.

"Are you Santiel?" His voice was strangely familiar. It was young, perky, and had the tiniest hint of a British accent. Come to think of it, he sounded exactly like the person on the golem that had sent Komui to meet her. So that must have been how he knew her name. No one but he and the director seemed to even recognize the fact that she was a new member of this giant family, and not just a visitor.

"Yeah, that would be me." She pulled her eyes away from him for a moment to take a sip of her soup. It was piping hot, enough to burn her tongue. Yet she liked hot things, both temperature wise and by spiciness. It met her standards perfectly, even if they were low. Licking a drop of the liquid off her lips she glanced back at him. "And you are…?"

"Allen Walker." He offered the name to finish her question. It was only then that she noticed the curious mark on his left eye. It resembled an akuma pentagon, only he had to be an exorcist. Maybe it was a tattoo? She took a mental note to ask about it later. "So General Tiedoll sent you?" He asked politely. Well, wasn't he just full of questions. Not that she minded; it was nice to have someone actually interested in what she had to say.

"Uh-huh." She nodded along with her words. "While he was in France he somehow came upon where I lived. The town was attacked by akuma and some Innocence that he was carrying reacted to me and messed up my arm. So I left with him and we traveled together for about two months. Then he decided to send me here." She shrugged and took a bite of her bread. From the stories that he had told her, it was a fairly similar to the other ways that he had found people compatible with innocence. Apparently, her summary of the events had peaked a different person's interest. More questions were thrown at here, but coming from a different mouth.

"It messed up your arm? In what way?" A familiar dark-haired head appeared behind Allen's shoulder and continues spouting inquiries. "Is it a parasitic type? Is your anti-akuma weapon already a part of you and completed?" She blinked at him and tried to comprehend the words by running them through her mind again. After a few seconds of staring blankly, it clicked and she was able to answer him.

"It totally rearranged how it looks." She shrugged aside the fact that she was speaking to Komui now and commenced shrugging off her jacket. It revealed that her dress was sleeveless, leaving her shoulders bare. Her right shoulder was peculiar-looking. It had strands of a silvery substance climbing to collarbone, as if attaching her seemingly unnatural arm and shoulder to the rest of her body. It was the same silver as the strands but with hints of blue peeking out from under her elbow. A diamond-like shaped black gem was sunken into the front of her shoulder with tiny strands plastered to it that attached back to her shoulder. Once she remover her leather glove the other two could see that her fingernails seemed to be made of the same black stone, while her skin was silver and harder than the norm.

Komui whistled quietly at her arm then glanced at Allen. He smiled sheepishly and pointed to his arm. "It's actually pretty similar to my arm. Bu-," He was cut off by Komui jumping in and poking at her arm, lifting it up and inspecting the shiny surface.

"Very interesting… could you activate it?" He asked her the question so suddenly that she couldn't help but shoot him an incredulous glance.

"What!? In the middle of the dining hall?" He nodded enthusiastically. She rolled her eyes. "Fine… But step back, will you?" He and Allen quickly complied by standing up and taking a few steps back. Heaving a sigh, she stood up as well and pointed her finger at the wall, hoping not to aim at any of the finders that had now gathered around the trio.

"Innocence, invocate!"

There was a flash of blue light and her arm no longer resembled any sort of arm. It looked more like an arsenal of pistols and guns, all attached at one base. Her shoulder had three tubes spiking up from the top, all a dark blue. Her anti-akuma weapon protruded from her shoulder, allowing her to aim by swinging it around. Where her hand would be, was what resembled a sleek gun with three barrels. Where her elbow would be was a slowly spinning circular formation that housed multiple cylinder chambers that were closed on the end that was closest to Santiel. Dark blue versions of the silver strands laced up the only thing that still resembled a shoulder and disappeared into the three tubes on top of it.

With a wry smile, she continued to keep it pointing at the wall, all twenty-three barrels of the thing. It was all made of the same dark blue material, as if created form the same sheet of a highly polished steel plate, only of a nightmarish color.

"Welcome to the world, Pistutoru."


	3. Chapter 3

A ripple of "oohs" shuddered through the crowd at the sight of her now-transformed arm. Santiel could feel the eyes boring into her back and probing at the weapon that was now protruding from her shoulder. She had never considered her weapon to be all that outspoken, so to speak. But she had never met any exorcists with a weapon that was anything close to hers, let alone of the same nature. Then again, she had never shown it to such a large amount of people or been asked to invocate. Usually, she only invocated her Innocence for battle, but there were no enemies here, merely the members of the Dark Order.

She glanced around at the group, confirming that she hadn't just felt the eyes staring at her, but she had seen them as well. She flicked her optics from face to face, taking in all the expressions. Komui was absolutely enthralled with the discovery of this weapon; she could see him examining it from afar. Allen wasn't totally shocker, but there was the slightest hint of interest in his face. The finders were just checking it out. The weapon wasn't all that interesting to them, for they were simply there out of curiosity. After they had taken it in, they began to drift away towards their tables, and the small hum of light conversation filled the air as they returned to their meals.

This left her with Allen and Komui looking at the weapon with interest, Once Santiel looked closer the director seemed to have an almost hungry expression plastered to his face. Her nervous smile drooped at the sight of this. It made her think as well. It occurred finally to ask herself a question: What was it that he was so intrigued by her anti-akuma weapon? The girl quickly glanced at Allen for support and he quietly slid over to her with answers.

"He likes to work on parasitic types when they get injured," He explained to her in a whisper that Komui shouldn't be able to hear. Those few words explained a great deal about this man to her. Allen took a step back as the said man approached.

With a thoughtful hum, he slid his fingers over the smooth surface and lifted her arm in his other hand. She relaxed her shoulders and allowed it to be inspected. The man continued lifting, poking, and looking at it from different angles. It felt strange to ave someone so closely interested in her so much to be analyzing her weapon. Finally, after her stance had drooped from boredom, he spoke.

"I assume it's some sort of gun," His eyes were still focused on her arm. She nodded, even though she doubted her would notice. "How does it work?" He actually glanced at her this time.

"Yeah, it is. As for how it works, I only have a theory, so I could be wrong." His eyes were expectant as she took a deep breath and went about explaining. "The air is sucked in through these tubes," She touched each of the three tubes extending from her shoulder with her hand. She moved a finger down her shoulder to the place where her weapon was covered with the intertwining strands of dark material. "It's compressed here and covered with a black liquid that hardens quickly into a rock-like substance. But there are two types of bullets that it makes: exploding and regular. The exploding ones have a very thin layer of the covering. Thus, once they are shot out and impact with something, the shell breaks and it explodes. The regular kind has a very thick shell, and act like normal bullets." She took a breath and continued.

"So," she moved her hand down to the slowly revolving piece. "They get set to here and the lower three via the tiny strands that, as you can see, get bigger." She glanced up from her weapon, finished her explanation. That was like a speech for her; she hadn't spoken that much all together for a long time.

"Oh, one more thing," she added before she forgot. "The liquid that hardens as the shell is highly poisonous." A thought passed through the back of her mind after she had said that. Her weapon oddly resembled a level one akuma's weapons, what with the guns and poisonous bullets. The difference between her poison and theirs was that they didn't turn to dust after having pentacles gather on their skin, they simply turned a stony-color and died.

Komui looked very interested in Pistutoru now, turning from examining the outside covering to trying to peek into the tubes that took in air. It came to her attention that Allen had disappeared form his spot next to her. She looked around for a moment before laying eyes on him: sitting back down at the table and polishing off a plate of curry. She smiled at this and turned back to the director.

"Uhm, do you think I could turn my arm back? Or do you want to keep looking at it?" It was slightly sore now that she had been holding it up while explaining how it worked and what it did. Komui looked up and smiled sheepishly at her request.

"Oh, sure. Get back to you meal, you must be hungry." He stood back after she nodded in thanks. The flash of strange light that had appeared when she had invocated shown again, marking the disappearance of the gun-like weapon. Once her arm was back to normal, Santiel rolled her shoulder and walked back to her seat next to Allen. Once she swung her legs into the seat she slipped her jacket back on and dug into the soup.

It was the best thing she'd had in a long time.

* * *

Sorry about the short chapter! I was short on time, and I promise an awesome chapter tomrrow!


	4. Chapter 4

I know that this chapter is extremely late. I have a million excuses, but I know that they really don't matter. So, without further ado, here is Chapter 4.

(P.S.: Happy late 4th of July, to thoes who celebrate it)

* * *

A yawn escaped Santiel's lips and she finished off the food that she had previously ordered. Her stomach was still pleasantly warm from the hot soup, and the crunch of the bread had accented the soft taste perfectly. It was only now, after her bowl had been sipped dry and plate eaten clean, that she extended her arms out in front of her. After stretching her shoulders a bit, she stood up form the table and yawned again.

"Thanks for the food," she muttered to herself once she had removed herself from the table. She noticed that the dining hall had all but emptied. Allen had finished his food and left, leaving plates and bowels stacked up on the table in his wake. She marveled at the pile for a moment, and then glanced around again.

It struck her that now both Allen and Komui had disappeared, leaving her without a guide. The tower was huge, and she had no idea where to go. Was there a room set up for her? If there was already, how in the world was she supposed to find it? Her stance drooped at the realizations that had been dropped on her shoulders.

"I'd get lost anyways..." She moaned and continued sweeping her purple eyes across the halls. About to give up, she turned to look behind her and lo and behold, she saw a frock of bright red hair sticking out from the dull brown of the tables. Salvation! Her face perked up and she quickly shuffled over. Forced to go around tables and weave through miss-placed chairs, it took her some time to reach him. But eventually, she did.

"Excuse me?" She asked quietly and stopped next to him. He was wearing a uniform similar to Allen's, but unlike the boy's long jacket, this man wore a short one. There was no response from her words so she warily poked his arm. Nothing. Was he just ignoring her?! The though cause a mild form of anger well up in her chest and her eye to twitch. Leaning around him, she got a betting look at his face. It was peaceful, with one eye closed, and the other covered by a black eye patch. A green and black headband seemed to keep his tousled hair out of his face, which was a fairly young-looking one. It occurred that there must have been a reason that he was slumped over the table, with no actual food with him.

This guy was asleep.

When he snored rather loudly, she shoved her hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle. "Ahah… Mister? Heheh." She attempted waking him again by shoving his shoulder. No reaction. "Hellooo? Anybody home?" She moved from his shoulder to face, poking his cheek with a slender finger. That provoked something. He mumbled and let out another snore, this one louder than the first. It immediately invoked a fit of laughter from the girl, who almost doubled over.

She recovered a few seconds later and went back to it, poking and shoving the man, but to no avail. He was just a snoring rock. "Come on, you lump! Wake up!" In one last effort, she slapped him across the cheek. She had intended it to be light, and not painful, simply sharp. But as he jolted awake, his expression told otherwise.

"What was that for?" He demanded. He was about to yell at her some more, but then seemed to realize something. Santiel cringed, bracing for the explosion, but it never came. She cracked and eye and saw him, still sitting there, rubbing his cheek. His once-irate expression had turned into a pout as he nursed the reddish spot.

"That hurt…" He muttered, looking up at her pathetically. Even though she had never seen him before, his green eyes seemed to register some kind of recognition of her. "And I was supposed to help you out too…" He continued muttering in his dramatic misery.

"Ah, sorry! I just wanted to wake you up." She replied helplessly. "I didn't mean to-"

A bright smiled flashed on his face and the hurt look was gone, as if it had simply been an act. "It's fine, don't stress about it, kid." His green eye danced with unheard laughter.

She stuck out her bottom lip in a pouting fashion. "I'm 16, thank you very much." Her tone was flat and cold as she spoke; making it much different than the last time she uttered any words.

He held up his hands sarcastically. "Ohh, scary. Well, since you're pretty short like Bean Sprout, I assumed you were a kid." He grinned at her. "You're not much older than him anyways. Although you are much cuter." He flexed his arms and stood up, eyeing the bewildered girl. His green eyes swept down her slight figure, obviously lingering on her decently sized chest before moving on to her face. "You fit the description, so you must be Santiel, right?"

She nodded automatically. Maybe he had been sent to be her guide. Although, it would have been nice to lay eyes on a feminine face. From all the people she had seen so far, it was as if the Dark Order was made of men.

"I'm Lavi," He introduced himself quickly after her nod, "I was ordered by Komui to help you navigate this place until Lenalee gets back. Then she'll take over." Her purple eyes were blank as she stared at the newfound Lavi. Who was this Lenalee person he other kept referring to? Was she the female salvation that the young girl had been hoping for?

He met her blank stare with a most unusual response. "What's with that look? Are you wondering about my bandages or something?" It was then she noticed the white bandages that decorated his face and hands. Lavi had apparently mistaken her lack of mind power as high interest in his wounds. "I got real beat up from my last mission," He said happily, the tone much more jubilant than any injured man's ever should be. "So the Head Nurse won't let me leave the tower or go on another mission until I get better."

She blinked. "Oh… that sucks," In actuality, she hadn't even noticed that he was hurt until he mentioned it. "So you're just looking for something to do now?" She asked innocently.

Soemthing that could only be described as a "guiltstab" seemed to happen to the redhead. He winced and his face took on a sheepish expression. "Well…. You see…" He moved his fingers through the air, as if he was trying to find an excuse floating around in the air. After stuttering for a while, his frame drooped and he admitted the truth. "Yeah, I'm just bored."

Santiel smiled understandingly at the man who had been exposed for his true intentions. She herself had gone through the unimaginable hassle and boredom that came along with being critically injured. "Nothing wrong with that," She answered him. This mean, he was a curios fellow. Her mind drifted and muted out his words as he spoke again, returning her smile with a warm one of his own.

Her ears did not register the sounds flowing from his mouth as words, and she only heard a pleasant buzzing around her. Deep in thought, she analyzed him, taking into consideration the things that he had already said and done. He appeared to be a happy person, but there was something different behind it all. He was unlike Komui, Allen, and the others that she had bumped into. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she was determined to figure both it and Lavi in general out.

"Hello? Santiel? Anyone home?" Her concentration was shattered by a hand waving back and forth in front of her face. She blinked to find Lavi leaning over her and trying to break the trance that had engulfed the new exorcist.

"Oh!" Her face flushed red in her embarrassment. "Sorry," Santiel apologized quickly to him. Her slender fingers fiddled together, hanging down below her waist. Large amethyst eyes roamed around to avoid his curious ones, but inevitably they met and she found herself at a loss for what to say. Lucky for her, the new acquaintance spoke first.

"You apologize to much." Lavi shortened the silence with his words. "Come on, I was supposed to show you the room that was set aside for you." Before she had a moment to protest, his gloved hand had enclosed around her arm and was guiding her around the tables at high speeds. She was having trouble keeping up with him, but he stopped once they had exited the dining hall.

Santiel wrenched her arm from his grip and stopped dead to catch her breath. "Geeze!" Her eye were accusing yet laughing as they looked at Lavi standing a bit in front of her. He twisted around to half-face her with a wide grin on his face. "At least give me some notice, would you?"

"But it's more fun this way!" He replied in defense of his actions, but his tone was one full of a childish wish to run and fly by everything. She shrugged and straightened up from her doubled-up position only to find herself experiencing déjà vu. Her arm was under his possession again after not even a heartbeat, and they were off, dashing down the corridor like a pair of kids half their age.


	5. Chapter 5

I apologize for never getting around to posting a chapter, and like my last one, I've got a million excuses but I just wont bother.

Enjoy!

* * *

Sprinting down hallways at extremely high speeds alone is quite a challenge. But sprinting down long hallways at extremely high speeds while trying to keep a hold on quite a slippery hand at the same time was even harder. After all, if Santiel lost her grip on Lavi's hand, he would probably just keep going without her, and she really didn't want that to happen. Why? She would be at an utter loss, standing in the middle of an unfamiliar building, with no idea where she was, or where her destination was. Lavi knew both those things, thus her desperation not to lose him.

She really shouldn't have bother worrying, seeing as she was now standing, or bending over, in front of a door. Her hands were on her knees and she was gasping for breath while tiny beads of sweat dripped down her face. Yet, there was a grin on her face, one that was stuck there even though she was utterly exhausted. With a slight groan, she stood up and glanced at the door.

It was plain and white, just like any of the other doors lining the hallway. There was nothing special about any of them. They were the normal size for a door, and the doorframe was only a grey that was a shade darker. The knob seemed lacking much of its silver shine, with a little rust around the edges where it was attached to the door. All in all, it was a boring old door. The only thing different about it in comparison to the doors around it was the little number "23" on a small plaque stuck to the door.

She blinked at the thing for a moment, then straightened up. A quick glance at Lavi told her than this was not just a rest stop, but it had to be something else. "Is this my room?" Santiel asked while jabbing a finger in the direction of the door.

He nodded. "This is going to be your home sweet home!" After saying so, her pulled a key out of his pocket and jammed it into the lock. His wrist twisted and the door opened, revealing a scarcely-furnished room.

Against the wall was a wooden-framed bed of no considerable size with a bedstand and lamp next to it. Across the room were a chair and a window. The only real decoration in the small place was a picture hanging on the wall, an abstract one of strange and colorful shapes. She couldn't help but feel disappointed to lay eyes upon the boring dorm, but what could she expect? It wasn't like it would be totally done to fit her, after all, they must have only just assigned it to her.

"If you wanna spruce the place up, you'll have to go into town somewhere and buy something for it." Lavi had walked into the room and was now leaning against a wall, looking at her expectantly. She followed him and sat down on the bed. "Actually, I recommend it. Whenever you come back forom a mission, it's not always pleasant to come back to this blandness."

She nodded robotically. "Right. Decorations. Got it." She made a mental note of the suggestion. "Anything else I should know? I mean, about just getting along in general in this place." She glanced at Lavi and noticed that he was thinking so, she considered opening the window. Then she realized how pointless that was: it was nighttime outside.

"Well, I thought of a few things," He interjected into the silence that had begun to engulf them slowly. He met Santiel's hopeful gaze and began. "Avoid Kanda!" There was so much enthusiasm in those words that she began wondering exactly how scary this Kanda guy was.

She nodded.

He looked her up and down. "Don't hang out with General Cross. Just because you know Allen and you're not too bad on the eyes, he'll take advantage of ya." Santiel didn't question him, she just nodded.

"Wash your uniform regularly, since you're going to wear it a lot." He looked thoughtful for a moment, and then it was as if a light bulb went off in his head. "Right! You're uniform! You'll probably get that tomorrow."

"Okay, anything else?"

"Try not to damage your anti-akuma weapon. Komui's the only around here that fixes them, and it's not pleasant when he does it." After staring at the wall for a second in thought, he shoved his hands in his pockets and stepped away from the wall he was leaning on. "That's it. Get some sleep, kid. You'll need it." All she could see of him now in the dim light was his thin outline in the frame of the door. He raised one hand lazily behind him in a half-wave. "Night!" Then the door slammed close.

Santiel blinked at the sudden exit and waved sadly at the door. "Goodnight…" The words were only mumbled half-heartedly since there was no way they would reach him. Footfalls could be faintly heard as he left, and then they disappeared altogether.

A sigh was the only noise in her small room to break the cold silence that was now occupying the room with her. It was as if a chill had entered just as Lavi had left, leaving the girl alone with her thoughts and the night. She fidgeted while sitting on the bed, unsure of what to do now. It probably was a good idea to get some rest, but she hadn't brought anything with her, so all she had to sleep in was her dress.

So, she slipped out of her jacket and stuck it on the chair, wriggled out of her boots and discarded them randomly on the floor, and pulled of her gloves only to toss them on the chair with her jacket. Satisfied with herself, she then folded the blankets back and wriggled into bed.

The covers were up to her chin and only the top half of her head peeked out from under them. She blinked. So now what? She was attempting to sleep, but it was kind of hard, seeing as this was a totally unfamiliar place and she hadn't least idea of what time it was, only that it was dark outside.

How was she going to manage to make this tiny room feel like her home? It wasn't as if she had some connection to it. Actually, she felt absolutely no link in any way to anything here. It was just a room. That was it. She frowned and turned onto her side to stare at the blank wall. Sleep just wasn't coming!

She screwed her eyes shut in the hopes that just having them close would invoke sleep, but it wasn't very likely. Maybe she should attempt relaxing, that might help bring sleep about. Santiel let out a deep breath and relaxed her limbs, making sure her eyes were only closed softly and everything else about her was limp. Her breath came deep and steady, and she was sure that she was going to fall asleep. Just as the verge of unconsciousness was coming, she was interrupted extremely rudely.

The door smashed open and the dark-haired man that could only be Komui threw himself into the room and nearly jumped on her bed. Her arms flailed about as she tried to sit up and only succeeded after multiple tries. A murderous aura flamed around her as she stared daggers at the interrupting Head of the Dark Order HQ.

"What so you want!?" She spat at him, not expecting the most strange answer that she would receive.

Komui grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her quite enthusiastically. "Lenalee's home!"


	6. Chapter 6

Santiel blinked. "Lenalee…? Who's that? More of, get the hell off of me! I'm trying to sleep!" She shoved him away only to see him step back and stand up next her bed. Satisfied, the girl lay back down and rolled over. "Now go away!"

A pouting expression took over Komui's face and he grabbed her arm. "Come oooooon. You have to welcome her home!" Before she had time to realize it, Santiel was being dragged out of her bed and out of the room. She flailed about comically and shouted at him.

"Oi! Lemmie go!" Her voice was a loud one when she yelled, even for such a short person, but it was no use. Completely and totally against her will, she was being dragged down a hallway in the dead of night, barefoot, with not the least of a clue about what was going on.

She decided to give up after a while and just go with it. There was no way she was breaking his grip, it was like a vice. Before she knew it, her arm had been dropped and the man had stopped in his tracks. Since she wasn't facing him, she had no idea what was going on behind her. She did hear him exclaiming happily and an unfamiliar female voice objecting.

Rubbing her sore back, she stood up and turned around to see what all the commotion was about. The first thing that she saw was Komui, in all his white-coated glory, hugging a girl intently, yet it seemed comical in Santiel's eyes. The girl had long black hair tired up in pigtails at the top of her head. She was wearing what Santiel assumed to be one of the options of the female exorcist uniform. What really gave it away was the silver emblem that all of them had.

"Ugh, brother, get off of me!" She was squirming and wriggling away from the man's embrace, but there was a still a smile on her face.

"But I missed you, Lenalee!" Quite the winy tone was projecting from his face. Then it was as if a light bulb went off inside his head. "Oh, right!" He jumped away and gestured in Santiel's direction. "This is the new exorcist that arrived while you were gone."

Lenalee looked surprised for a moment then glanced at the girl standing awkwardly in front of them. "Oh, hello! I'm Lenalee, this idiot's sister." She extended her hand and a smile in the newcomer's direction.

Santiel blinked at the sudden friendliness towards here, but she returned the smile with a small one of her own and shook the offered hand firmly. "Yeah, hi. I'm Santiel, nice to meet you." She feared that her words lacked the genuine enjoyment of meeting a new person that Lenalee's held, but her worried expression must have tipped her off and Lenalee made sure she didn't doubt herself.

"It's a pleasure." The taller girl said and dropped her hand gently. It was only after a moment of silence that it seemed to dawn on her the nature of this meeting. She looked Santiel up and down, and a slightly horrified expression slid over her features when she looked back at Komui.

"Oh no…" She muttered and rubbed her temple with one hand. "Don't tell me Komui dragged you out of bed for this."

Santiel swallowed and allowed herself to look sheepish for a moment. "He did." She replied in an unnaturally cheerful voice that only the most oblivious of men could not hear the utter annoyance in.

The other girl rushed to add her answer on quickly. "I'm sorry about him. He gets really, er, excited sometimes. Don't take it personally."

"Oh it's fine," Santiel answered with the exact same tone as she had earlier. "I just hope it doesn't happen again."

Lenalee laughed dryly. "It won't. Come on Komui; let's let her get some sleep." She took a hold of his ear and began dragging him down the hall, away from Santiel. She twisted her body slightly and glanced back at the girl left standing in her makeshift nightclothes. "Goodnight! I'll see you in the morning." She waved, then turned back to her brother and a not-very-friendly conversation ensued.

Santiel couldn't help but giggle a bit as she waved back. "Night!" When the pair had left her range of vision she dropped her hand and turned herself around to head back to her room. Her mind was even relaxing from that interesting meeting of a new friend.

She was a nice girl, and it was great that she had been able to see a feminine face among the males that seemed to dominate the Dark Order. She was smiling so slightly as se began walking back, and she really wasn't paying attention to what was in front of her. Even though this little French girl wanted to get some sleep, fate didn't want her to. Not yet.

Before she had the chance to take another step, Santiel collided face-first with a rock-hard chest. She stood there for a moment, dumbfounded at this strange happening. She felt around for a moment with her hand and discovered that this person had quite a broad chest.

"What the fuck are you doing?" A deep voice growled form above her.

So, this person was definitely male.

"Ah, nothing." She took a step back away from the person she had run into and took them in. His voice may be deep, but he wasn't totally male-looking. The guy had long black hair up in a ponytail with bangs that hung down on either side of his face. He was definitely Chinese, from the looks of it, and low and behold, he was wearing the exorcist uniform.

He scowled down at her then pushed roughly past without another word. She kept her body rigid as he clomped on behind her, following the path that Lenalee and Komui had taken earlier.

"Harsh." She muttered once his footfalls had faded and she was alone once again. With a shrug to herself she sauntered back to her room. The door was still ajar and swinging oh-so-slightly. Rolling her eyes, she stepped into her new home and kicked the door shut behind her then deposited the key on her bedstand. The whole world seemed silent when she slipped back under the covers again.

"Maybe I can actually get some sleep now…" She mumbled to herself while fingering the fabric that was keeping her warm, and would continue to do so during the duration that she would be sleeping in this tiny room. She hoped it would be a long time that room 23 stayed her home. All the while that she thought of how nice it would be to have somewhere to call home. Yet, she was completely oblivious to the fact that the people she had met today, Lenalee, Komui, Lavi, Allen, and the unnamed man (unknown to her that he was the 'Kanda' Lavi had told her to avoid) would eventually have a huge part in deciding her fate. But at that time, she wasn't concerned with the future, just being happy with a good night's sleep.

* * *

I do apologize for the fail Kanda.. He'll be more alive next time! I promise!


End file.
